Manufacturers of furniture, particularly seating furniture, such as recliners and couches, are constantly striving to improve the comfort of their products. One known way of increasing the comfort of a seating product is to incorporate an air bladder into the seat of the product. Air bladders have been used to improve the comfort of seat cushions in earlier furniture designs.
As one example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,965 to Hannagan et al. discloses a wheelchair including a cushion having a plurality of inflatable bladders or tubes. The tubes are inflated to increase the comfort of the person using the wheelchair. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,223 to Obermaier discloses a hollow body for use as a seat pad. The hollow body ergonomically supports a favorable sitting position for the person seated thereon.
In addition, multiple bladders or bladder sections have been used to improve seating comfort. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,413,194 and 4,445,240 each disclose one inflatable bladder at least partially surrounding another independently inflatable bladder.
While these designs may have improved comfort, many drawbacks still exist. For instance, partially inflated existing air bladders require time for a user to get settled in his or her seat. Many times the prior art bladders have not optimized comfort because effort is needed to stay seated and prevent “roll” of the seated person. The bladders are usually shaped like a balloon or football and the seated person “rolls” around those bladders that protrude upwards from the seat like a bump or hill. The inflatable aspect of the bladder may improve comfort; however, the design of the bladder still results in uncomfortable feelings like “roll.” In addition, the prior art bladder designs may be unsightly. A large lump in the middle of the seat does not provide an attractive place to sit and may create the appearance of a bulging balloon.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide an inflatable bladder design that improves comfort.
It is another object of the invention to provide an inflatable bladder design that reduces or eliminates “roll” of the seated person.
Another object of the invention is to improve the aesthetic appearance of the bladder design to a potential user.